The Thing Remake Gains Winstead and Edgerton

There’s been some serious movement on the production front of Universal’s remake of The Thing. According to THR, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton have been cast as the two leads. It’s been over 25 years since we’ve seen this property on the big screen, with the last being directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell. Oh, how things have changed…

The Thing spawned from the 1938 pulp story entitled “Who Goes There?” It was initially adapted to the big screen back in 1951 with The Thing From Another World, which was directed by Howard Hawks, then there was Carpenter’s 1982 version that knocked the title down to simply, The Thing. Matthijs Van Heijningen is directing the latest movie, which was written by Ronald D. Moore and Eric Heisserer.

In the film Winstead will play a Ph.D. candidate who joins a Norwegian research team in Antarctica after it discovers an alien ship in the ice. When a trapped organism is freed and begins a series of attacks, she is forced to team with a blue-collar mercenary helicopter pilot (Edgerton) to stop the rampage. Production on The Thing is scheduled to begin on March 15 in Toronto.

We can throw this film in the bin marked “Unnecessary” along with the other remakes and sequels that will be hitting theaters in the next few years. Thanks for ruining another oldie, but goodie Hollywood.

What do you think about Winstead and Edgerton leading the cast of The Thing? Who else could have taken on their roles?